Urban Meyer made the rounds at ESPN yesterday as part of their 'car wash' promotion, appearing on SportsCenter, First Take, The Herd, The SVP & Russillo show and College Football Live.
As usual, Meyer dominated the day as spoke about Aaron Hernandez, Carlos Hyde, the importance of leadership, Braxton Miller and a various other topics.
On the topic of Carlos Hyde, Urban reiterated that Hyde was punished for not doing as taught. The expectation was for him to walk away from the situation and he didn't. Meyer again clarified that any time one of his players is caught up in a domestic situation and doesn't act accordingly, he will take action.
Meyer went out of his way to note that the police told him a "regular guy" would face no punishment as a result of the incident. That said, Urban noted that when a person is provided a free education and the various perks that come with being a football player at a high-profile school, with the spoils come tremendous responsibility.
The situations with Hyde and Roby also made Urban realize just how special the leadership was on last year's squad and that he now values player-leadership much more than he did even just a year ago.
When the subject of Hernandez was raised, Urban admitted to being guilty of going into "rehab mode" with some kids and that after being burned, he's now more guarded in his approach to giving second chances. Meyer defended himself by saying that while he believes in accountability, it's hard to be held accountable for the actions of others years after having contact with that person.
Moving on to Braxton, Urban gushed over Miller calling him the most humble great player he's ever been around and noted he's taken his concentration and motivation to a new level. As a result, Meyer excitedly called Miller a much different player than he was a year ago.
When asked if Miller can make it at the next level, Meyer said Braxton has it all except for a complete grasp of the game citing his release, arm strength and footwork before stressing that Miller can play in the NFL.
On to more hard-hitting news, Meyer told Scott Van Pelt that his favorite cartoon character as a kid was Popeye and his favorite cereal was Life however you "have to hit it" and "have to go get it" before it gets soggy.
H-O-K-E AS IN HOKEY. On the heels of announcing a 23% increase in the price of student tickets to games in the Big House in addition to abolishing reserved seating in the student sections, yesterday the University of Michigan published their new ticketing rules.
Hoping the price increase will motivate students to get their money's worth and actually attend games, Big House policy will now allow for diehards seeking the best seats to line up four to five hours ahead of kickoff to receive a wristband qualifying them for a spot in the lower 22 rows of the four student sections.
In an especially janky branding twist, the four sections – and by extension the wristbands – will be labeled as "H", "O", "K", and "E".
I wonder if the extra coin generated from the student shakedown helped fund the marketing genius behind labeling the sections after the coach?
BEST CASE & DRINK A CASE. The BTN's Tom Dienhart, assuredly trudging through the offseason just like the rest of us, took a stab at breaking down both the best case and worst case scenarios for your 2013 Ohio State Buckeyes.
The best case is just as you'd imagine with the Buckeyes running the table against the known foes on the slate then heading to either the Rose Bowl or some other non-national-championship destination if they lose the B1G championship game or to the BCS national championship game if they prevail in their first appearance in Lucas Oil Stadium.
The worst case, however, reads as painful as suffering from dry heaves with a mouthful of thumbtacks.
Without mention of any key injuries, Dienhart's doomsday scenario envisions a loss at Northwestern in an emotional-letdown performance following a big win over Wisconsin, a sloppy home loss to Penn State and finally, a defeat at the hands of the Wolverines to finish 9-3.
Obviously, less than 1% of 1% of Buckeye fans think a three loss regular season is on tap but that said, which game on the slate has you most concerned? I know the game in Evanston is becoming a sexy pick but how can it not be the trip to Ann Arbor?
Oregon's football complex leads the facilities arms raceLOOK AT ALL THE DUCKS I GIVE. Phil Knight is a bad man. I love him like D.J. loves Manziel. It's easy to hate on the man who, from his Nike throne, throws gajillions of dollars at an Oregon program currently equipped to rank among the nation's heavyweights and pose a threat to Ohio State's national title aspirations in any given year. It's like he's college football's George Steinbrenner.
To me, however, that's exactly why he's awesome. Instead of sitting on his financial resources, he willingly exploits it in an effort to gain an edge. As a Duck recruit, player, coach, athletic director, president or fan, what else could you ask for?
How about a $68 million dollar football complex? No problem.
With the Ducks in process of moving into their new digs, the school recently released images of Knight's handiwork and the complex looks to be nothing short of the most spectacular such building in America.
The building comes with a lobby featuring 64 55-inch TVs, a barbershop, a two-story theater room to accommodate the entire team equipped with a 30-foot projector, state of the art position rooms, lounges for families and recruits, a double-decker sky bridge, amazing offices and amenities for all members of the coaching staff and on, and on...and on.
Just as Steinbrenner used his most significant advantage in an effort to create a competitive edge, Knight is doing the same with the construction of a complex built with an eye laser-focused on attracting the best coaching and athletic talent in the country. It's hard to hate on such an ideal.
That said, the best things about the building from the outside looking in appear to be the fact it's 2,450 miles from Columbus and while amazing, doesn't have the same level of tradition or on-field successes to showcase that can be found at the WHAC.
SEE SHELL$. Mitch Sherman wrote yesterday on the fascinating story of how Hydro Graphics Inc. helped change the look of college football by convincing Oregon State to let them use their state of the art graphic design and application technology to produce the school's new football helmets.
Chris Thom, the shot-caller at the paint shop of sorts, first got the idea to potentially dress up existing helmet while college football on television and noticing that helmets were nothing more than paint jobs – and in many cases, incredibly boring paint jobs at that.
Thom subsequently dialed his VP of business development, Drew Gareb, and discussed the opportunity. From there, Gereb, a Beaver alum who'd been inspired by painted catcher's mask he had created at the request of his daughter, took that helmet, unannounced, Oregon State's athletic offices.
He made his way to speak with Oregon State's director of equipment operations and just a few years later, HGI has evolved from potentially going under to having more than 30 elite college football programs on the client list along with a few NFL franchises. Basically, cool story bro.
PARTY ON, WAYNE (WOODROW). So, in case you aren't aware, we hold an annual charity tailgate dubbed Eat Too, Brutus. We've successfully upped the ante over the course of the last few years and I think it's safe to say we're taking this season's event beyond next level – like two-day banger next level. While we've done our best to keep a lid on things, it's just about time to announce our plans:
E2B 2013 Announcement Thursday (tomorrow) at 1:30pm EDT. You're going to freak out. We are already freaking out.
— Eat Too, Brutus (@EatTooBrutus) July 31, 2013
And...
To whet your palate: E2B will have a loaded Yeungling truck again + multiple special brands. And @CityBarbeque will be stuffing your face.
— Eat Too, Brutus (@EatTooBrutus) August 1, 2013
But that's just the basics. Check back at 1:30 p.m. and bring some popcorn.
SMORGAS-BORED. An up close look at a turkey neck... Scenes around Columbus in the mid-1960s... Average daily cigarette consumption per adult smoker by state in 2012... Johnny Manziel’s Official Apology Statement Template... Other major US cities arranged inside of Los Angeles... Columbus' bike share program has launched... Life lesson for dudes... The legend of the Oregon Trail.
